Chapter 23: First Blood, Part 2

"Yes, though I've not been in some time," Binhadi said, and something that might have almost been a smile curved his mouth briefly. "I was sent abroad with Prince Seda when I was seventeen. We spent four years traveling through Petrocia and a few surrounding smaller countries. Some of them were extremely cold, so cold your breath freezes and you will die within minutes if not properly protected. I do not miss it."

Cemal smiled faintly, in that peculiar way of his that always held a trace of sadness no matter how happy he should be. Sule had never met a priest—a person, at that—so quietly, constantly unhappy. Now he knew two such men. He and Mahzan might snipe at one another constantly, but Cemal and Binhadi seemed to be trying to out-gloom one another.

Mahzan snorted and shot him an amused look. Sule scowled back.